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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-06-23Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes County of Hawaii June 23, 2017 CALL TO ORDER Chairman Alton Nosaka called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Alton Nosaka, Kris Hoke, Michael Akau, Ken Obenski, Wendy Davis J. Yoshimoto, Corporation Counsel Tiffany Kai, Mass Transit Administrator Sari Kogasaka Cantor, Transit Assistant Absent: Radford Hirai APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Kris Hoke moved that agenda be approved, seconded the motion by Michael Akau, and it carried unanimously. Agenda approved. APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 Commissioner Hoke moved to approve the minutes, Commissioner Akau seconded the motion, no further discussion, and it carried unanimously. There were no minutes for the previous meeting on March 2, 2017 as meeting was cancelled due to lack of quorum. PUBLIC STATEMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS: Chairman Nosaka made a motion to close the Public statement section, as seeing no individuals present who wished to speak, Comm. Hoke second motion. 5 ayes. Closed. VI. New Business A. Review taxicab application for NEW Certificate of Public Convenience & Necessity to operate in the County of Hawaii. Kelly Does Kona LLP dba World’s Coolest Cab PO Box 564 Capt. Cook, HI 96704 (1) CH569 Name change: Mary Kelly Williams and Ian Works DBA Worlds Coolest Cab CH538/569 Ian Works, present. Comm. Hoke moved to approve new application along with name change of previous taxi’s, Comm. Obenski seconded the motion. Application and name change approved. 5 ayes. Maile Madrona dba Hello Kitti Taxi & Tours 248 Hoomalu St. Hilo, HI 96720 (1) Not present-called in that she is on her way. Move item to last on agenda. Branden Henson dba BH Taxi 47 Panaewa St. Hilo, HI 96720 (1) CH570 Branden Henson, present. Comm. Obenski moved to approve new application, seconded by Comm. Akau. Applicant was asked if he is able to secure a proper vehicle along with insurance as he has submitted multiple applications but has not successfully gotten his taxi company on the road. Applicant stated he has all requirements and ready to operate. Application approved. 5 ayes. Stanley Shigeishi dba Stan’s Taxi 133 Laukona Street Hilo, HI 96720 (2) CH571 Stanley Shigeishi, present. Comm. Obenski moved to approve new application, seconded by Comm. Hoke. Application approved. 5 ayes. Jonas Montgomery dba Yagi Hawaii PO Box 3603 Kailua Kona HI 96745 (6) CH572-573-574-582-583-584 Name Change: Jonas Montgomery dba Yagi Hawaii CH554 Jonas Montgomery, present. Comm. Obenski moved to approve new applications along with name change, seconded by Comm. Akau. Application approved. 5 ayes. Edison and Vilma Fronda dba Princess Taxi PO Box 384021 Waikoloa HI 96738 (1) CH575. Edison and Vilma Fronda, present. Comm. Obenski moved to approve new application, seconded by Comm. Hoke. Application approved. 5 ayes. Manuel Cabanas dba Kona Town Taxi 74-5047 Kealakaa St. Kailua Kona HI 96740 (1) CH576 Comm. Obenski moved to approve new application, seconded by Comm. Hoke. Application approved. 5 ayes. 8. Ronaldo Bacalbos dba RJAY Taxi 74-5022 Kealapua St. Kailua Kona HI 96740 (1) CH 577 Alvin Dataylo, present for applicant as he is in the Philippines and unable to attend. Comm. Hoke moved to approve new application, seconded by Comm. Akau. Application approved. 5 ayes. 9. Alberto Gilboy dba Traveler’s Taxicab PO Box 1285 Kapaau HI 96755 (1) CH578 Alberto Gilboy, present. Comm. Obenski moved to approve new application, seconded by Comm. Hoke. Application approved. 5 ayes. 10. Rana Pfizenmaier dba Marek’s Taxi PO Box 385413 Waikoloa HI 96738 CH539 Rana Pfizenmaier, present. Comm. Obenski moved to approve application, seconded by Comm Akau. Albrecht Pfizenmaier, current owner, will be retiring and moving to Oahu. His intention is to transfer ownership of company to daughter. Letter on file. Application approved. 5 ayes. 11. Jennifer Summers dba Jen’s Taxi 64-5241 Nani Waimea Street Waimea HI 96743 (1) CH579 Jennifer Summers, present. Comm. Obenski moved to approve application, seconded by Comm. Akau. Application approved. 5 ayes. B. Hearing on revocation of the following Certificate of Public Conveniences due to the discontinuance by the carrier of the business of transporting passengers as a common carrier of passengers operating upon and using the public highways for a period of thirty consecutive days or more or failure to renew his/her taxicab license for the year. CH 214 Wilson Saplan dba Saplan Taxi Not present. Letter on file requesting cancellation of taxi. License revoked. CH562 CH563 Christopher Artley dba Taxi Chris Not present. Certified mail sent, item returned. Applicant was approved at previous meeting but did not submit documents within the 30 days, with no written request for an extension. Licenses revoked. CH564 CH565 Charlene Sherwood dba Char’s Taxi Not present. Request on file, she is unable to maintain all vehicles. Licenses revoked. CH 529 Artemio Miranda dba Armi Taxi Not present. Request on file to cancel taxi. License revoked. CH458 Jojo Ramos dba Kohala Taxi Not present. Request on file to cancel taxi. License revoked. CH388 CH412 Joseph Carriza dba Taxi Joe Not present. Request on file to cancel taxi. License revoked. A. Review taxicab application for NEW Certificate of Public Convenience & Necessity to operate in the County of Hawaii. Application to approve out of order: Maile Madrona dba Hello Kitti Taxi & Tours 248 Hoomalu St. Hilo, HI 96720 (1) Not present-called in that she is on her way. Move item to last on agenda. Maile Madrona, present. CH580 Comm. Obenski moved to approve application, seconded by Comm Akau. Application approved. 5 ayes. Transit Administrator’s Report Administrator Kai reported that she will be stepping down from the Administrator’s position as of August 2017, but will remain assisting in this capacity til a replacement is hired. 6 new bus shelters are available for the riders at: Waimea-Pukalani, Keaau-by new medical center, Naalehu near the Elementary school, Laupahoehoe, Kurtistown Park , and Kuaaina St/Volcano Hwy. We continue to work on providing additional shelters. In the process of being constructed are shelters located at Queen Kaahumanu and Henry Street intersection, West Hawaii Civic Center, Seaview Estate, and behind Kona Target. Updating the current services is a request for Mobile Bus Applications. Currently several applications are under review for awards to select vendors. This will enhance passenger real time tracking. Comm. Obenski also suggested that service should help passengers input location, then application to determine what route will get them to their destination, along with current location of bus. Another application will text a message to passengers regarding bus breakdowns. . Administrator Kai indicated that all different modules are offered, but come with additional costs. Mass Transit is continuing to work with the consultation agency, SSFM, regarding the Transit Master Plan. Completion date is targeted for January 2018. So far they have completed the on board surveys, reviewed existing conditions and route schedules, and trying to match these services to a compatible bus application. They have scheduled several Community Outreach Meetings between July and September 2017. This will give them the opportunity to collect additional input from the community on how to enhance our service. Once all information is collected, they will then complete a draft for the County Council to review. The new Transit base is scheduled to be completed July 2017, with move completed by August 2017. On July 5, 2017, the City and County of Oahu donated 7 used Gillig buses to add to our fleet. This will allow us some time, approximately 2 years, for funding. The department has applied for a grant which the funds will be used to purchase new buses. Comm. Obenski asked about the double decker. Currently the bus has transmission problems. A technician needs to be brought in to diagnose the problem. The new Para-transit program, Hele-on Kakou, has been in operation as of April 1, 2017. Currently, Hilo’s route has 24 eligible participants, who reserved 328 trips, and the Kona site has 69 eligible participants, who took 1200 trips. Chairman Nosaka asked about the Keaau bus shelter, stating that the building was not suitable for our weather, roof line too narrow. Administrator Kai stated that these are pre-fabricated bus shelters whose designs cost between $2,000-$3000.00 each. The larger pre-fabricated shelters have a cost of $11,000-$14,000.00 each, in addition, passengers informed department that these larger shelters don’t have good air circulation and gets extremely hot. It is most cost effective to install the smaller shelters. Discussion on Commissioners Powers and Duties: J. Yoshimoto, Corporation Counsel Section 18-5 describes the scope of duties. One duty is the approval of taxi permits. They can assist the Transit Agency as an Advisory Committee, upon request of the Mayor or Council, on transportation related matters. Comm. Obenski indicated that the purchase of the double decker was not made known to the commission. Items such as this should be brought to the commission attention so they can do the research and advise the Agency. He also indicated, that the commission should not only be used as advisory, but be assigned more duties. Per Counsel, J. Yoshimoto, if the commissioners would like their responsibilities changed, they must go through the County Council to change the County Code. Directed Comm. Obenski to his council member in his district. Discussion regarding Future Taxi businesses in Hawaii Comm. Obenski suggested a Central dispatching service who would provide all dispatching to all taxi’s so there would only be one phone number the public would need to know to get a ride. Example Uber and Lift. Taxi owners present were not interested in this set up, having a 3rd party determine when they operate and which locations they need to be at. They are satisfied with the present set up, where they maintain their own dispatching. This service is very competitive, and they don’t feel comfortable leaving the amount of business they can provide to a third party. Discussion on regulating amount of taxi companies necessary to service Island of Hawaii Due to high volume of taxi revocations, many are concerned that there are too many taxi’s in operation. Many have noticed a decline in their revenue due to the high volume of taxi’s available. Due to loss revenue it is difficult to maintain their licenses, insurance costs, renewals, car maintenance, permits and fees. Currently the County Code does not provide a cap on the amount of taxi’s allowed to operate. Next Meeting. Next meeting to be scheduled in December. Need to check on Commissioners and location availability. Adjournment Motion to adjourn by Chairman Nosaka, seconded by Comm. Akau. Meeting Adjourned at 10:55 am.